Page 53 of Her Highland Prophecy
“Maybe we can do some things together while I am in the Castle,” Eleanor suggested. “Mairi seems to like ye.”
At the sound of her name, the little girl looked up from her plate, the entire lower half of her face and her hands covered with honey and her cheeks bulging out as she chewed and smiled. Diana shook her head fondly, the sight of half-chewed food in her mouth making her slightly queasy.
“I would like that,” she replied to Eleanor.
They smiled at each other tentatively, a shy offer of friendship, and then turned back to their plates. Diana picked at her food, her appetite gone after the confrontation with Eleanor.
Mabel turned around from where she and Joan had been playing with their nephew.
“We are going to gather kale and herbs from the kailyard today, Diana. Will ye come with us?” she asked. “Ye can come too if ye want, Eleanor. I’m sure one of the lasses will watch the bairns for ye.”
“I want to come too!” Mairi piped up from beside Diana. “Mama lets me help in our garden at home.”
“Does she now? Ye are such a big lass,” Mabel praised. “Ye can come with us if ye like then.”
“I would like to come with as well,” Diana said. “Though I think I might have to lie down for a little bit before I do.”
The ache in her stomach had spread and she was feeling an odd cramping sensation. It was not unlike her monthly, but much stronger than anything she had experienced before.
“Are ye feeling well, Diana?” Joan asked. “Ye look verra pale.”
The younger redhead’s face swam in and out of focus as Diana looked up at her.
“I’m not sure,” she choked out through the nausea. She closed her eyes and put a hand on her head hoping to calm the light-headedness she was suddenly feeling.
“What’s wrong?” one of the twins asked again. Diana couldn’t tell who was speaking anymore.
“I don’t know,” Diana said. “I should get back to my room.”
She could feel her words slurring a bit as she spoke, and the need to lie down became imperative. She found her feet and stood, the entire room swaying around her as she did so.
“I think I need help,” she said. Her eyes fixed on the ceiling, even as she felt the hard stone floor beneath her. She had no memory of how she had ended up on the ground. A blur of red and black hair was over her, each person indistinguishable from the last.
The nausea she had been feeling suddenly overcame her and she managed to turn herself over just in time to vomit prodigiously on the floor, her stomach clenching in pain.
Her last thought before she lost consciousness was of Gordain.
19
“What do ye mean, she collapsed?” Gordain growled at the boy who had rushed into his chambers as soon as he returned.
“It was in the dining hall yesterday morn,” the boy said cowering slightly. “Yer sisters were with her when it happened.”
Gordain silently cursed himself for keeping away. He had thought that staying away and having people watch her would keep her safe, but apparently that was not possible.
Ye cannae be sure that this was because of the letter.
He dismissed the thought immediately because it couldn’t be anything else. For all that he teased her about being a princess, Diana had not seemed to have a sickly disposition. This sudden illness on the heels of receiving the letter was almost confirmation of their suspicions.
“Has a healer been to see her?” he asked.
“I dinna ken,” the boy said, unhelpfully. “Mistress Eleanor has been with her the entire time.”
“Eleanor is here?” Gordain asked in surprise. He had not known that his sister had arrived at the Castle, though he had been expecting her, especially once news of his betrothal spread through the Clan lands.
I should have sent her a message.
Too late for that now. He was sure that Eleanor would not be as welcoming as Mabel and Joan had been to Diana, but he still held hope that the two women would come to appreciate each other. He could sense the same fire in Diana, as the one he knew his sister possessed.
